MOVIN'

In our first year we attempted to buy THREE houses, none of which worked out. We planned on staying in Blanding, but have now decided that we are to move to St. George so Chavis can finish his schooling at Dixie State University (DSU); he is currently majoring in business accounting. I have tried so hard to plan out our life, and I have found out the hard way that “My Way” clearly isn’t the “Lord’s Way,” but I know if we keep on doing what is right everything will work out…even if it’s not the way I planned.

So on July 31st we moved out of our apartment, and we headed west to find us a new home. Amazingly enough...we fit all our stuff into this trailer! I told Chavis we could, it would just take strategic packing :)

State Boards..RN?

Deciding to take my state boards again for the third time was an extremely hard decision for me to make, but after 6 ½ months of not studying I decided that I needed to overcome this obstacle so that I could move onto the next. I devoted myself to studying hours every day. I work nights, so for 6 weeks my schedule consisted of sleeping until noon or one, studying for 2-3 hours, eating lunch, getting ready for and going to work, at least 2 hours of studying at work (if possible), and then doing it all over the next day (3-5 days/week).
I received tons of support from family, friends, and co-workers. I had multiple family members that had been putting my name in the temple, and I know it helped; I had never been able to stay focused during studying like I was able to during those 6 weeks. The Sunday before my test we asked all our family (Holliday side, Redd side, and Allred side) to fast for me. Even one of my youngest cousins, Hunter (8yrs), fasted for me. Chavis and I attended the temple the Thursday evening before my test. Friday we drove to Orem, stopping at my parents house for dinner before hand. After dinner I received a blessing from my Dad (Jon) and Chavis. As my dad gave me the blessing, he blessed me that I would be able to have a clear mind, that I could accurately read the questions and come up with the correct answers, that I could get a good nights rest, and that I could be free of anxiety. After the blessing I felt at peace; knowing that through my faith I could receive these blessings.

Saturday June 5th came, the day of my test. As I walked into the testing center I said a prayer asking the Lord to please help me pass this test. The peace I felt in the testing center could have only come as an answer to my prayer. Everything my dad had blessed me with, I received. Then, as I came near question 75 (the minimum number of questions one can get is 75 and the maximum is 265), I said another prayer that the computer would turn off at #75. One-hour and fifty minutes had elapsed since starting the test, question 75 answered, and then…the computer shut off. At that moment I had to fight back tears because I knew the Lord had answered my prayer. Walking out of that testing center was the biggest weight lifted off my shoulders.

RN?

The testing center told me that I would be able to find out if I passed my test on Tuesday, but in my anxious state I kept checking on Monday, and at 3pm my results were available for viewing. I had Chavis come home from work to open the results because I was too scared…and when the results read PASS, all of my emotion came flooding out. I could not control my tears (of joy). I had been working so hard to pass this test, and to know that my effort was enough was the best feeling! I hugged Chavis so tight, as all of my anxiety left me in the form of tears and sobs. I am so grateful to all of my family who fasted and prayed for me, and I’m especially grateful for Chavis: he has been amazing to me throughout all of this, he has had every confidence in me and helped me have confidence in myself. Obstacle RN test—passed…onto the next.

the Hollidays

My sister-in-law just emailed me these pictures, so I HAD to post them:

(Lagoon. Summer 2009)

Gotta LOVE family!!

Weekend of celebrations in OURAY, CO

Yesterday was the celebration of many things for Chavis and I; we celebrated my 22nd birthday, Chavis' 24th birthday, and our 1 year anniversary!

We decided to take a weekend trip over to Ouray Colorado to relax and just be with eachother.

On the drive we took the scenic route through egnar, co. Of course Chavis was scanning the area to see if the deer have dropped their...horns? is that the word?

this is on the drive to Ouray, tons of deer in one small area.

Anyway, he is a really good driver, but as he scans he begins to drift (off the road), and drifting makes me very nervous! But verbally voicing my concern does not go over well with Chav, so I've developed this body twitch of terror! haha. Once he dritfs too far for my comfort, my body will jerk..and Chavis just laughs and steers back onto the road :)

Once we arrived to Ouray, we drove through main street and located our hotel. We ate at some good food at some good restaurants..and payed way too much :)

Sunday, we slept til noon (due to day-light savings time). It was snowing like crazy, so we decided it was the perfect day to go to the Natural Hotsprings Pool. We spent most of the day there; going between the HOT pool and the WARM pool. It was fun to be in the pool while the snow was piling up around us.

    if you look behind us you can see how much its snowing.

After we got back from the Hotsprings Pool, the sun started to come out, so we got ready and walked main looking for a place to eat. We ended up at O'Brien's Pub; the irish music was blazing and the beer was flowing for everyone...except us :) Between the pub and the mexican restaurant, I'd pick the pub everytime, their food was everything I wanted it to be.

Main street looked so pretty after the snow storm; low clouds covered the mountain peaks, and the air felt clean.

Monday, we drove over to Montrose and spent the day browsing.

Tuesday we drove home so Chavis could get to work (he had a big cement pour), which of course got cancelled after we got home...oh, the joys of life :)

Punk and Jayne had dinner for us last night to celebrate, and we stayed over their til 11:30pm playing NERTZ...which Chavis and I won!...(not bragging, but Chav and I a;ways seem to dominate in that game)

Jazz VS. Rockets: 2/27/10

At the first of the year Chavis and I decided that we wanted to go to a Jazz game, so I called a bunch of our couple-friends and got a BIG group to go with us!

It's funny that I'd be so excited about a Jazz game, but I hadn't been to one in years and...I LOVE that they're bringing back their old-school uniforms!!! So I told Chavis that in order to attend the game I HAD to BUY me a green jazz shirt :)

A full month of anticipation: the GAME, going with tons of our FRIENDS, and of course..my GREEN T-SHIRT!

So the last weekend of February finally came and our group headed up north: Kendra & Jordan, Kamry & Jeremy, Roman & Nikki, FEAR, Quinn, Bri, Shay, and Chavis & I.

FEAR, Quinn, Bri, Shay, and Chavis and I all went to the FANZZ store in provo and got hooked-up with jazz attire, ate some lunch with a high-school friend of mine, Jordan Howa, and then headed up north to meet up with the rest of our group.

We decided to take the TRAX to the game so we wouldn't have to find parking, very smart. My mom, as always, loaded me up with treats to take to the game...enough for EVERYONE...the only problem...we had to sneak them in. And of course i'm the only one with a HUGE bag..you could barely carry a thing of ti-tacs in bri and shay's purses. Luckily, Nikki, Roman's date had a decent size purse, so we hid a thing of treats in her bag, two in my bag, and one in my coat...I felt so dangerous haha.

After a 30 min ride on the trax we arrived to the Energy Solutions Arena, and that is where the big task came into play (or so I thought). As I inched closer to the door I could feel my heart POUNDING (hilarious, given that it was over a bloody box of candy), and in my head I was thinking, "If I get caught with this damn box of candy and they MAKE me throw it away, I'm going to be PISSED." I get to the door, and I have a woman bag-checker, which in my mind is worse because they know how sneaky women are hiding things in their bags. Lucky for me I had some pamphlets in my bag so I wrapped them around the boxes of candy, and IT WORKED!

Next was the real task; we had nose-bleed seats..the very top row. It didnt even dawn on me that Roman was on crutches til I started up the steps!!! But somehow he made it up all those steps..what a trooper, he probably could've gotten an upgrade if he'd asked.

The game was a BLAST! The Jazz played great!!! They even wore their green uniforms! And our nose-bleed seats turned out to be the best nose-bleed seats ever, because in the box behind us was Brown Bro. Construction, and they hooked us up with nachos, drinks, popcorn, and treats. They were a WAY awesome bunch!

All-in-all the entire trip was a blast! I'm so glad so many of our friends were able to come with us, and it was a great way to end the month!

SNOW

So this week has been crazy with snow!! Actually we've had some pretty good snow fall the past two months, and that is exactly why im posting on it. After the first heavy snow fall started to melt, and as it fell off the roof it landed on our small deck; it was a good four feet, so we just left it hoping it would melt. Well now that we're getting DUMPED on, it is 5-6 feet tall in some places, and there is NO WAY we can even open our door or its all going to fall in our apartment!!! There's an easy 500+ pounds of snow on the deck, which i just found out has no support beams, its just bolted to the side of the apartment :( Here's some pics to show you what i mean:

And this was 5 minutes ago. Now the snow smashed into the door comes up to the dead-bolt! I'm afarid the glass in our doors is going to shatter!...I hope Chavis leaves NAPA soon so he can shovel it off!!

Reflecting on 2009 and Embracing 2010

I can't believe another year has come and gone.

Chavis and I have had a great year! Starting off 2009 Chavis proposed to me (today actually marks the anniversary of our engagement). Come spring i married my BEST FRIEND. May brought graduation of the RN program for me. SUMMER brought tons of FAMILY time. Fall brought school (which chavis would deny as being a good thing), Guiding for Chav (he is an amazing guide and an amazing hunter. I love seeing him be so passionate about something), and Thanksgiving in PC with my family. Christmas with the Holliday/Redd sides was one of my favorite Christmases!

They have no idea how much I love them. Marrying into their families was one of the best things that has ever happened to me.

To welcome the New Year we went to a New Year's Eve party at the Arthur's house; playing games was WAY fun, but i knew bringing our Wii was a bad idea! haha, 2:30am rolls around and all the guys are playing the wii while the wives sit around the kitchen BS'n waiting for their hubbies to finish up. All in all it was a good time :D

2010 brings about a new chapter in Chavis and I's life together. We have LOVED being together, and are so excited for another year together!